In food production, and specifically producing animal products such as milk, beef, pork, eggs, chicken, fish etc., there is a constant need to improve production efficiency. Production efficiency, i.e. producing the maximum quantity of animal products while minimizing the time and/or cost of production for those products, is important in maintaining a competitive advantage.
Producers are constantly trying to increase these production efficiencies. One way of increasing production efficiencies is by altering the feed which animals are fed. For example, a feed with certain amounts of nutrients can cause an animal to grow or produce animal products quickly and/or perform better, whereas a different feed with different amounts of nutrients may cause an animal to grow or produce animal products on a more cost effective basis.
Since feed often comprises the largest portion of total animal production costs, providing well-balanced rations makes economic sense. When the ration is properly balanced for energy and all other essential food nutrients, the amount of feed consumed will generally determine an animal's growth rate and feed efficiency.
For both economic and environmental reasons, there is continued pressure to make productive of an increasing percentage of the waste material generated as a result of the slaughter of animals, such as livestock. A major use of livestock waste or other by-products is in the production of the blood anti-coagulant heparin. It has been estimated that over 90 wt. % of the heparin currently used as a-blood anti-coagulant is obtained from porcine intestinal mucosa.
Mucosa byproducts associated with heparin extraction from mucosal material typically contain chondroitin sulfate and other mucopolysaccharides (also sometimes referred to in the art as glucosaminoglycans or “MBP”). The mucopolysaccharides can include one or more of a number of types of glucosaminoglycans, such as hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, dermatin sulfate, keratin sulfate, heparin sulfate and heparin. Some of these glucosaminoglycans have recently appeared in the human and nutraceutical industries as treatments for arthritis and other cartilage related challenges. It should be noted that other sources of glucosaminoglycans include, shellfish and plants, and sources of cartilage such as trachea, aorta, nasal septa. Currently, the bulk of mucopolysaccharides (less heparin) produced as a result of the heparin industry are often simply dumped as waste material into the municipal sewage system and lost at a significant cost or the waste material is routed back and combined into another byproduct stream (e.g., peptone product).